What Was on the Land the Fashion Show Now Occupies Before the Mall?

The Fashion Show Mall occupies a major piece of Strip real estate that I'd have thought would be a casino. I'm sure it's a fantastic location for a shopping center, but why is it there? I assume it's been there long enough that land was plentiful on the Strip when it was built. Was it a vacant lot at that time? Or if something occupied that land before the mall, what was it?

Here's one of those questions that we figured would be a piece of cake to answer, but then turned out to have us scratching our heads.

What we -- including Anthony Curtis, who moved here in 1979 -- did not know, prior receiving your question, was that Fashion Show Mall actually opened way back in February 1981, in a much smaller incarnation than we know today. Here's a photo from the early '80s we found on Flikr that gives an impression.

It seemed to have opened with little fanfare -- A.C. doesn't recall anything about it and we could find no trace in the local press or any any "Strip Timeline" highlighting significant dates in history. As far as we can tell -- and if anyone out there knows better, please correct us if we're wrong -- it seems that there was absolutely nothing on the plot of land at 3200 Las Vegas Boulevard South prior to the Rouse Company building Fashion Show Mall, which debuted with Dillard's, Bullock's, Goldwaters, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue as tenants. The mall's nearest neighbor was the Frontier casino, which occupied that same block between Desert Inn and Spring Mountain Road.

A major expansion took place in 2002-2003, which included the addition of the entire west end, an expansion of the east end, and the addition of "The Cloud," (that massive canopy that "floats" above the mall that we've never quite understood, not least because it looks nothing like a cloud). Many of the anchor tenants, including Neiman, Saks, and Robinson-May, all increased their square footage, too, and new retail tenants moved in.

In 2004, Rouse was bought General Growth Properties (GGP) in what was the largest retail real estate merger in American history and made GGP the nation's second-largest mall operator. Today, Fashion Show Mall is one of the largest indoor retail facilities in Nevada, having grown to occupy 1,888,151 square feet of space. It's home to more than 250 stores, including seven anchors.

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Vegas Fan Jul-05-2021

Early picture

Maybe someone forgot to post the link or the picture?

Marty Jul-05-2021

Billboard

https://vintagelasvegas.com/search/fashion+show+mall

Deke Castleman Jul-05-2021

Photo

Yes, sorry, the Flickr photo didn't survive, but many thanks to Marty (and our friends at VintageLasVegas.com) for posting an alternative.

[email protected] Jul-05-2021

Dive!

The pictures of Dive! in the link sure brought back memories.  I ate there once and it was a really cool experience.  Obviously not enough to keep the restaurant "afloat", but still!

To this day one of the cool things about Fashion Show is all the restaurants with street side and outdoor dining access.  Not something you see at many malls.

I did get a big surprise a few years ago when I went there and found all the doors locked, without a sign anywhere explaining what was going on.  I then discovered that the entire mall shuts down on Easter Sunday!  I definitely wasn't expecting that!

AL Jul-05-2021

a couple of questions

1.  Did that restaurant called "Dive!" serve submarine sandwiches?
2.  I don't see what's so fantastic about there being 7 anchors. Were they considered to be outstanding examples of blacksmithing or metallurgy?  And does each one have a plaque that says what ship the anchor came from?

VegasVic Jul-05-2021

Dive

I forgot all about that place.  Unique experience one time.

Gregory Jul-05-2021

YouTube vids

This QOD prompted me to see if there were any YouTube clips from this era.  I didn't find much, but I did find this...https://youtu.be/NqzMJlufrJ0 .

The Video is from 1988.  It's not the best quality, but it's probably as good as what was available at the time.  He starts out at Westgate (Hilton), then cuts over to the strip and works his way South as far as the Tropicana, then he doubles back and goes North calling out the properties along the way.  It's amazing how much emptiy space there was on the strip at the time.  At about the 8:30 mark he mentions, "new casino going up".  This was the Mirage.

Also of note, about the only thing that would have been further South of Tropicana would have been the airport and the Hacienda.

Jared Jul-05-2021

Dive!

My ex wife and I ate at Dive! in 1994.  Really cool experience.  I have video of it somewhere.

Ray Jul-05-2021

Castaways?

I'm not talking about the Castaways that ended up on Boulder Highway, but my first trip to Vegas in 1970 I stayed at the Castaways. And I'm sure that it was on the very spot that became Fashion Show Mall. My research says that THAT Castaways was torn down for the Mirage and would have been a little south of where the FSM was built.

Gregory Jul-05-2021

Castaways?

The original Castaways was demolished to make way for Mirage.

VegasROX Jul-05-2021

Dive and current

We never saw Dive so we suspect 
It was gone by the time of our first trip in 2001. From the inside picture, I'd guess Maggianos is what now occupies the location as that's what the inside of the main dining room is designed like.

Roy Furukawa Jul-05-2021

Look Around

Boy, I would love to see a Google Maps "look around" of that picture of the corner. I can't believe that it was just bare piece of desert before the mall. I do remember the Frontier and their long running dispute with the union. I believe there used to be a shack the size of a bus stop with union flyers and signs attached to it. Maybe that was the union office? :D

Question of the Day - 05 July 2021

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